Moving from caravan to motorhome - advice please

Get yourself off your a few dealers and look at what they have on their forecourts. When you have an idea of what takes your fancy, we may be able to point out some pros and cons.

Needing something smallish, I would suggest you look at panel van conversions.

Wild camping will generally not make you popular in the SW but there are a few off-site possibilities.

Which area are you in? I'm trying to think of dealerships and your general location will help.

Thanks Tinwheeler. Planning visits to dealers in Devon and Somerset shortly to view. Not particularly interested in a panel van. Comfort and a bit of space is important and van conversions seem a bit utilitarian - at least the ones we've seen so far.

Wildcamping is not our first thought but we want to take advantage of a MH's 'independence' for the odd overnight when the fancy takes us. 

You're spoilt for choice looking at dealers in Somerset. I doubt there's anywhere I can point you at.

PVCs are ideal for narrow lanes and I'm afraid a narrow but sturdy outside equals a little less width inside. You can’t have it both ways!

Utilitarian? Err, no.

If I can help looked at many motor homes over two years ended up with swift escape 664  with a French bed .four berth . very similar to our previous caravan in lay out and 6.72 m in lengthen  looked at panel vans  but  preferred a bigger van  and no differances  in driving experiance  of veichicles in test drives oh panel 6 m in lengthen 

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Decide what you don't want to narrow down the options. If you don't want a PVC, then motorhomes tend to be 2.2 wide or 2.34 wide plus wing mirrors - mine is 2.74 wide including wing mirrors.

Talk to the dealers to get a feel of which ones you can trust, especially on after sales service, and who don't spout a flannel. I have chosen all my motorhomes after I had chosen a couple of  dealers rather than the other way around.

We haven't been away in the motorhome since March because of Covid. We can't even get off the Wirral at present because of the latest lockdown. Through the summer we did manage days away and the van was a boon because we had our own kitchen and toilet; our non motorhoming friends are irritated by the lack of cafes and toilets when they go out for the day.

As for quick getaways, my wife prefers 2 weeks notice!

Oh dear must check predictive text in future 

Not all coachbuilts are 2.2 or wider. I had until recently a Marquis Majestic (Elddis Accordo lookalike) 2.14W. I've now got a Carthago A Class that's a whole 2cm narrower! The advantage of a slimline coach built is that you do not lose  the width at the top of the body like you do with a PVC. You have to balance that advantage against 8cm narrower width advantage of a PVC.

Our history is that we were caravanners for 30 years when we decided to change to a motorhome seven years ago. Our first motorhome was virtually a carbon copy of our caravan. As lovely as it was we eventually came to the conclusion that it was really too large for what we needed. So based of five years experience we changed to a smaller coach built. During the process we looked at quite a few PVC's which certainly had an attraction but we felt they didn't offer the space we needed so we decided on a Bailey Alliance 66-2 which is quite a bit smaller than our original Bailey but has plenty of room and a decent bathroom. My advice would not to rely too much on what you have in the caravan but think carefully what you will use the motorhome for and let that dictate the whether its a smaller PVC or a slightly larger Coach Built?

David

Beware the lack of transport on site, you really can be stuck especially at the moment unless you are not concerned about using public transport.